


Forms and Movement

by sidewinder



Category: Shanghai Noon (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-17
Updated: 2012-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-29 17:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/322261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidewinder/pseuds/sidewinder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy wished every day could be like this one...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forms and Movement

**Author's Note:**

> The following story is written entirely for fun and not for any profit. No attempt is made to supersede or infringe upon the copyrights held by any television or film companies upon which this story is based.

"Can I come up now?"

"No."

"I don't know, Chon. This just doesn't feel natural."

"Only because you are not used to it. You must relax, Roy. Relax, feel your feet, your body, your connection to the ground."

"All I can feel right now is my left leg screaming in agony."

"Just follow me."

Roy watched carefully as Chon turned, stepped, then shifted his weight back into his right leg. The former outlaw tried to imitate the movements that Chon made so easily, that he made look so simple, yet Roy felt completely off-balance as he did so, ready to topple over if anyone were to give him the slightest push.

Chon looked back at him, frowned, and came up out of position. "No, stay there," he instructed before Roy could move as well.

"I can't hold this position forever," Roy warned, wincing from the pain in his legs, and the burning in his arms from holding them raised and still for too long.

Chon simply ignored his whining. "Relax your shoulders." He softly touched Roy here and there to slightly alter the position of his arms. "Bend knees, open up."

"Ow...Ow... _Ow!_ " Roy complained as Chon poked at him and gently, yet agonizingly, manipulated his posture. Then, suddenly, everything felt entirely different. "Woah!" he exclaimed in amazement.

Chon smiled at him. "There! You see?"

Roy didn't see anything, but he sure _felt_ it. Somehow the pain was entirely gone, and he felt as though his body had been cracked wide open. Energy hummed through him head to toe, up from the ground and around, back and forth through his spread hands. "What the hell did you just do, Chon? This is amazing!"

"Only corrected your position. _This_ is how you should feel, Roy. Why I make you learn T'ai Chi. Learn to connect to the ground, feel where tension is inside you and correct it. Then you will feel how much strength you really have!"

"So mysterious," Roy muttered. He held onto the position as long as he could, though eventually his arms began to ache and tremble once more. He had to drop them at that point and come up into a relaxed standing position. Even though he was impressed by this small breakthrough, he felt frustrated as well. He sighed and shook his head. "That was amazing, but I'm never gonna learn how to do that right on my own."

"You must have patience, Roy! You cannot master a form in a day. Or even a year. Every lesson is progress made."

"I guess," Roy answered, though he was unconvinced. He shuffled his feet and felt the ache building in his calves and thighs. He was sure he was going to sore tomorrow, even though it didn't seem possible from doing what seemed like simply shifting his weight, one foot to the next while waving his arms around.

"Enough for today," Chon decided.

"Yeah, I'm beat," Roy agreed, though he then added, "Um, could I ask you one thing, though?"

"What is that?"

Roy felt a little embarrassed, but he asked anyway. "Could you do the whole thing one more time? Just 'cause, well...I love watching you do it."

Chon smiled warmly and said, "Of course, Roy. But watch carefully!"

"You know I will," Roy answered. He sat down on the hay-covered ground, relieved to at last be off his feet and have the chance to just rest and watch Chon in action.

Chon took a moment to ready himself, standing still in the initial position. Then he began, each movement slow, graceful, and yet so very clearly powerful. Roy watched in awe, as he always did--how could a man move with such delicate grace and obvious strength at the same time? He had been captivated by the sight of Chon in action from the day of their first saloon brawl. Since then he had discovered that true beauty was watching him go through one of the many martial arts forms that he knew, including this quiet yet powerful one he called T'ai Chi.

No matter what encouraging words Chon might say, Roy was certain he could never move with such ease or skill. It simply wasn't in him. Sometimes he felt like a stranger in his own skin, awkward and weak, nothing at all like Chon. He tried to concentrate on the sequence of the man's movements and to remember the things that he'd been learning, the names of the different positions, the progress of one to the next. Still, he found concentration difficult when he only wanted to watch Chon _move,_ when he could just imagine the way his muscles had to be flexing, twisting and straining tight beneath his clothes with every step. Roy wet his lips and had to shift his own position slightly, his imagination beginning to quickly get the better of him.

Eventually Chon finished the form, looked at Roy and gently scolded him, "You were not studying the form!"

"Not _the_ form, just _your_ form." Roy patted the ground beside him. "Come here."

Chon walked over and sat beside Roy, who wasted no time putting his arms around his partner and pulling him close for a kiss. He ran his hands up and down Chon's back as his lips, eagerly met, lingered on that sweet, familiar taste. He eventually broke the kiss to confess, "I can't help it if I just love watching you, can I? You just make me crazy when you do your karate."

"Not karate!" Chon protested with disgust. "Karate is Japanese!"

"Japanese, Chinese, whatever. Whatever you do, I love it." With that Roy pulled Chon down on the ground, determined to show the other man exactly how much he loved it and to take his time doing so.

* * *

"Ready to hit the trail, partner?"

"Ready when you are, Roy."

Roy squinted into the sinking sun as he finished packing up his horse, getting ready to hit the trail. His legs still ached from the T'ai Chi, but the rest of his body felt pretty damned good. An afternoon alone with Chon always managed to have that effect on him.

The farmhouse where they'd spent the day was an old hideout of Roy's, back from when he'd been on the run from the law instead of working for it. It still made a good place to get away from it all for a while, a place where they could be alone, together, and not have to worry about the prying eyes of the townsfolk or any other distractions. It was about an hour's ride back to Carson City, so judging by the sun it would be just past nightfall when they arrived--perfect timing for the first evening patrol of the streets to make sure everything was peaceful and quiet.

Roy wished every day could be like this one, easy and carefree, only him and Chon, spending time learning things from and about each other and having fun. No pressure, no nothing, not a care in the world. Unfortunately being the sheriff and chief deputy of Carson City didn't leave them many days like today. True, they were doing a fine job of cleaning up the town, arresting or scaring away most of the outlaws in the area, so the work had quieted down quite a bit since they first were appointed to their positions. But there were always the angry drunks at the saloon needing to spend the night in jail to sober up. And then there were the men looking to skip out on paying what they owed at the gambling table or at Goldie's, and border disputes between neighboring ranchers, and so on and so on in a near unending list of disturbances to the peace.

It was hard but honest work, that was true. Still, the fact of the matter was that Roy had never intended on his life taking such a turn toward legitimacy. The novelty of it was somewhat interesting, but now that he'd been here for a few months, he was beginning to feel a touch of restlessness settling over him, growing stronger day by day. He loved being with Chon and didn't want that to end, but he was beginning to think the time was coming that they should start to think about moving on to something--somewhere--else.

Roy turned back and watched Chon fussing with Fido, talking to the horse in a quiet voice as if the animal could understand his every word. Roy shook his head fondly, even as in his mind he wondered seriously about the future.

 _What if he just wants to stay here forever? He's not the one with the restless spirit like you, O'Bannon. If it came down to it, which would you choose: the open road or the man you love?_

Roy didn't want to have to choose. Didn't want to think that the time might come when he'd have to.

"C'mon, partner. Let's get out of here," he finally said, mounting his horse and feeling ready to leave both this place and his brooding thoughts behind.

"You lead and I will follow, Roy," Chon answered.

 _Just how far would you follow me, partner?_ Roy wondered to himself. _And do I really want to take you to the places I'm likely to go?_ He cast one last look back at Chon and resolved to not dwell upon the uncertain future, but to simply enjoy everything that they had together for now.

 _end_


End file.
